Biography

October 14, 2016Tessy Maritim

shot by Seun Roti

Tessy Cherono Maritim is fiercely and fearlessly dedicated to inspiring her generation to realise their potential in life. She is the Founder of The Arena Kenya, an enterprise that through events and digital platforms, leads a movement of smart, conscious and empowered young Africans focused on maximising themselves and the communities they live in. Tessy founded The Arena in between the second and third year of her undergraduate at the University of Manchester. She is excited to see The Arena grow into a vessel for change in Kenya and across the continent.

She is also a writer on her own blog where she shares candidly on womanhood, diaspora and other facets of identity. Her world views have been shaped by both her upbringing in Nairobi and her lived experience as a young, black, African woman living abroad. Tessy’s Blog is a personal art practice which she uses to to share, encourage, challenge, question, contextualise and learn. Tessy has been featured on popular local media channels such as AM Live (NTV), K24 Alfajiri, My Network (Daily Nation), Victoria’s Lounge (NTV), The Standard Newspaper, The Daily Nation, Mpasho (Radio Africa) and international platforms such as The Guardian Newspaper and Manchester Evening News for her work with The Arena and her 2014 student election victory at her alma mater. She is available to write, speak and make critical commentary on identity politics, diaspora, womanhood and education.

Inspired by her graduate study in Africa and International Development at the University of Edinburgh, Tessy is interested in exploring the growth of urban African cities through a social and political lens. She is currently pursuing work opportunities in development, urban transport, mobility or sustainable development.